Add another gear in an afternoon!
Transcription
Add another gear in an afternoon!
EXCELLENT SWAPS DEPT Add another gear in an afternoon! 1. The Tremec TKO has the speeds you need, and the beef to back it up. And now, thanks to Keisler Engineering, it’s a bolt-in swap! Reprinted from Mopar Action Magazine, June and August, 2002 issues. Entire contents copyright 2002 by Harris Publications, Inc., and Richard Ehrenberg. All right reserved. Distribution of unauthoroized copies by any method, including, but not limited to, reprinting, copying, scanning, faxing, e-mail, other electronic transmission, or internet posting, without the express permission of the copright holders is strictly prohibited. Violators will be chopped into small pieces and sold as pork hot dogs to be eaten by barbarians. Story and photos by Richard Ehrenberg, SAE ver the years, we’ve done tech articles, and then we’ve done tech articles—those doorbuster tweaks and mods that clearly raise the bar, improving the performance of our old Mopars so drastically that they become almost legendary. Hop-ups in this category can be counted on the fingers of one hand; in fact, there are really only three that fit into this “stupendous” category: Our famous disc brake swap, our ongoing quest O 1 MOPAR ACTION 2. Why is this man smiling? You’d be smiling, too, if your daily driver was a ’68 Charger R/T, low mileage survivor, with a way-cool 5-speed manual that, from any view except road kill’s, look dead stock. He’s also smiling ’cause he probably counting all the money he’s gonna make from selling a bazillion of these kits. for multipoint EFI, and our 1989 conversion to the beefy A-518 overdrive automatic transmission. We’ve thought, for at least a decade: Gee, too bad there’s no corresponding modern manual overdrive trans swap that we could swap in. Well, thanks to a very determined—and clever—Mopar enthusiast by the name of Shafi Keisler, and his killer CAD/CAM machine shop, now there is! Yeah, we know, you could have always bolted in the mid-’70s (and up) overdrive version of the A-833. But, while this does, obviously, give you the overdrive feature, the way it does this is less than desirable. Simply put, what the engineers did is change third gear from underdrive to overdrive, then flip over the shift lever so, to the driver, third becomes fourth and viceversa. If you have a very mildly tuned, stump-puller, low-RPM mill, this works okay. But as soon as you use this O.D. trans with any kind of performance engine (Chrysler never did, by the way) the major-league drawbacks of the huge ratio spreads become obvious (see chart, page 62) Plus, being a small-spline, fine-pitch gearset, this trans is rather limited in torque capacity. And there are some who question the advisability of the O.D. A-833’s basic design, which has the countershaft floating in the case (for gear rattle suppression.) Then there was the Doug Nash/Richmond box, but, despite its availability in a Mopar input configuration, the reminder of the installation required so much other majorleague cobbling that its desirability was vastly diminished. Plus, there’s no overdrive ratio. We spoke to several DNE/Richmond owners and none were totally satisfied, most quoting noise and hard shifting at the top of their list. And what of the Viper’s Tremec T56 6-speed? Forget it. It has an integral bellhousing that won’t fit any Mopar V-8. You’d need the Chevy version, which would be a tough swap, due to the massive case and the all-wrong shifter location. And all the truck based 5-speeds are just that: truck transmissions, with super-low creeper first gears in the 4:1 range, not to mention a whole host of other swapability issues. The A-833 is known as the strongest (and heaviest) passenger car manual transmission on the planet, so any trans that is going to fill the shoes of this legendary gearbox had better have some pretty big feet. And Shafi found one that does: The Tremec TKO series of gearboxes. How this transmission came into being is rather interesting. It’s weaker sister, the T-3550 (still reasonably strong, rated at 350 ft./lbs.) was intended to replace the fragile T-5 (picture saltines breaking up and the crumbs being dropped from Paul Bunyan’s huge fingers into a bowl of chicken soup) used in Mustangs, etc. The 3550 found it’s way (OEM) into the limitedproduction late-’90s high-output Cobra-R ’Stangs. With that project, by all accounts, extremely successful, Tremec realized that there might be a large aftermarket demand for a beefy 5-speed, so the upgraded, bigger-shaft, extra-strong, TKO and TKO-II 3. Here’s Keisler’s A-body version of the TKO, ready to bolt in. See that giant “notch” in the case (top, circled?) That’s your torsion bar crossmember. Keisler has engineered room for it, car-hacking not required—it’s so thorough that Keisler’s been granted U.S. patents on all this killer design work. Drawing at bottom gives out-of-the-box dimensions. 4. CAD-CAM delight: Mark Keisler designs a needed part, in 3D, on an engineering office computer that’s networked to the shop’s CNC mill. Voila! Out pops the part. Keisler has also used his technical prowess to reproduce various Mopar lenses, do instrument cluster rebuilds and upgrades, etc. The Keislers are lifelong Mopar guys. (race, close-ratio O.D.) version was introduced. One upgrade later, and we arrive at today’s TKO-II. It’s rated at 475 ft./lbs. and, by all accounts, that’s a superconservative, 24-hours at WOT, 5year/100,000 mile life-cycle rating. A Tremec engineer confided that up to 700 ft./lbs. of engine torque, even with a massive momentary shock load, there will be no trouble. Still, being from New York and skeptical by nature, we said: “Prove it.” See, discounting metallurgy, something that we have no easy way of eyeballing, there are MOPAR ACTION 2 really only three basic factors that affect a tranny’s strength: The gear face width, the mainshaft to countershaft dimension, and the gear pitch (angle of the teeth.) The folks at Shafi’s shop, Keisler Automotive, in the ’burbs of Knoxville, Tennessee, simply said: “Here. See for yourself”. And we did. The verdict? It’s a strong sonofagun, with gear faces significantly wider than any A-833: A-833 Hemi main drive pinion face width 0.892˝ A-833 Wedge main drive pinion 0.875˝ Tremec main drive pinion 5. Here’s a close-up showing the incredible re-engineering Keisler makes to adapt the TKO to all Mopars: Not only is the shifter area of the case highly modified, but that sheetmetal cover Shafi’s holding in his right hand is a completely new piece that you won’t find in the Tremec catalog. Bottom pix shows the Tremec’s internal, rail-type shifter mechanism. Can you say: “Snick. Snick?” The TKO’s available ratios make it an excellent street transmission: Trans A-833 6-cyl A-833 “common” First Second Third Fourth Fifth 3.09:1 1.92 1.40 1.00 — 2.66 1.91 1.39 1.00 — A-833 “T/A” and ’71-up wedge 2.47 1.77 1.34 1.00 — A-833 O.D. 3.09 1.67 0.73* 1.00* — A-833 18-spline ’70-down 2.65 1.93 1.39 1.00 — A-833 18-spline ’71-up 2.44 1.77 1.34 1.00 — Tremec TKO-I 3.29 1.98 1.24 1.00 0.68 Tremec TKO-II 3.29 1.98 1.24 1.00 0.83 *Note: The overdrive A-833 utilized an inverted shift lever so 3rd appeared to the driver as 4th, and visa-versa. 3 MOPAR ACTION 1.25˝ A-833 speed gears 0.856 Tremec speed gears 1.04˝ While the countershaft-to-mainshaft dimension is about 0.2˝ smaller than an 833, the added gear width, and closer-tostraight-cut gear tooth angle much more than compensates for this slight slimmingdown. Plus, the TKO’s internal organs are fabricated of super-strong 4515 steel. With the Tremec’s modern internal rail shifter arrangement (photo 5), shifts are precise and both throws and effort are commendably small. The Tremec’s low first gear making is easy for even a heavy car to launch without resorting to killer, high-4- or 5-series axle ratios. And the overdrive 5th guarantees serene highway cruising. For most streetstrip applications, the ideal axle ratio is probably somewhere between 3.23 and 3.91. Even with the TKO-II’s 5th gear ratio of “only” 0.83:1, that 3.91 becomes 3.24. And, going to extremes, a 3.23 cog, multiplied by the TKO-I’s 0.68:1, becomes a long-legged 2.20:1 (can you say: 200+ MPH? Or 25 MPG?) Flipping this analysis around, a car with a standard-ratio (1970s, 2.44:1) low gear A833 trans and 4.30 gears would accelerate just as quickly in first with Tremec’s 3.29:1 low gear ratio and a 3.23:1 axle. No matter how you do the math, the ratios come out almost all positives. The one minor negative is the rather large drop from first to second (a 40% drop), but with any decent displacement to weight ratio this would barely be noticed. If you wound first to, say, 6500 RPM, you’d be at 3900 when you ripped second—still well within most Mo’mill’s power range and almost certainly above your peak-torque RPM. from second on up right through 5th, the ratios are reasonably spaced (see chart below.) If you’d like a comprehensive set of ratio/speed/RPM charts, see the Keisler website. The synchronizers themselves are very, very similar to the old faithful A-833. In fact, they looked so similar that we tried to slip an 833 brass stop ring on a Tremec clutch hub (see fig. 12). It fits perfectly. The dog teeth also look 100% identical to the old 8. Need proof that Keisler makes the new BB housings from scratch? Here ya go! 6. Keisler has the bellhousing deal totally covered. For small blocks, you send him your stock housing, and he modifies it by adding a custom adapter plate which is then machined on-center. For big blocks, you can do the same, or you can spring for Keisler’s all-new custom casting. He can also convert Lakewood scattershields. 7. Keisler’s bellhousing isn’t a simple clone of the 1970-up aluminum factory BB/ Hemi piece—it has bolt patterns for the TKO (as well as the stock stuff), plus it can accept either flywheel size due to the clever redesign of having two starter locations. 833 parts. And, if you recall, slick-shifted 833s got by just fine with every other dog tooth cut off. So we expect no breakage problems there. With endplay-adjusted Timken tapered roller bearings on all shafts, the Tremec promises one major driveability improvement over the 833: way less driveline lash. No more clunk! clunk! when you get on, off, and on the gas. And less lash means less chance for parts breakage during those banzai, Chebby-crushing, FoMoCo-frying launches. Analyzing the basic overall shape of the big-boy Tremecs, Shafi began to analyze the fitment problems and set out to engineer 9. Where’s the beef? Here! The TKO’s input splines are just as beefy as the legendary Hemi A-833. Now look at the Tremec’s awesome tapered roller bearing design (A.) Next, compare the main drive pinions gear width: a full 1.25˝ wide (B.) The Hemi unit is only 0.892˝ wide (C), and the wedge version is about 0.020˝ narrower than that. Plus, the Tremec has a shallower gear angle—the closer to straight-cut the gears are, the greater the torque they can handle. Check the closeup for proof of the obvious strength. workarounds and mods to make the installation an in-your-garage, on-your-back deal achievable by anyone with a $59.95 Craftsman 3/8˝-drive socket set. Eventually this quest bore fruit in the form of fully engineered kits to fit virtually all muscle-era MOPAR ACTION 4 10. One obvious result of the Tremec’s all-tapered-roller-bearing design: You can’t wiggle the input shaft around like on an A-833! Instead, it feels totally rigid. 11. Same happy story with the speed gears. Advantage: Tremec, with gear faces 22% wider than a Hemi 833. And, again, significantly shallower gear angles. Plus, plus! 13. The only place where the Tremecs fall a tad short of the 833 is in the center-tocenter measurement. But we are 100% sure that the huge gear face width increase in the Tremec, as well as the reduced gear angle, makes it a significantly stronger tranny. Mopars. And they all share, with one small exception (more on that in a minute), the true bolt-in traits of a swap that will have mass appeal. Seeing these kits, we decided to take an extended hands-on look (the grease is still under our fingernails) but only after doing a thorough analysis of both the original transmission and the installations. So, for this, the first of a two-part series, we’ll continue to concern ourselves mainly with an overview of the Keisler kits and analyzing the internals of the Tremec TKO tranny itself. Next issue we’ll actually swap one in and report on any problems encountered and report on what it’s like to drive one on the street (in the famous Green Brick, naturally!) So let’s begin, logically enough, at the front: BELLHOUSING/CLUTCH/INPUT SHAFT 12. Here’s a mind-warping proof of beef: A Tremec speed gear accepts a A-833 synchro stop ring! While we didn’t get out the ten-thousandths-reading micrometer, they appear identical. The upshot: there’s no lack of synchronizer strength in the Tremec boxes. 5 MOPAR ACTION At 4.85˝, the TKO’s input pilot size is quite a bit larger than a standard fine-spline A-833 (4.35˝) and a tad larger than the Hemi (4.81˝), 14. Keisler manufactures—from scratch— beefy replacement crossmembers that give the kits true bolt-in status. All use stock Mustang insulators (more on that next issue.) but smaller than the oddball O.D. size (of 5.125˝). No matter, Keisler covers this for all permutations in either of two clever ways: Either by taking a stock clutch (bell) housing and bolting/dowel pinning, securely, a heavy steel plate to it’s rear face, then machining a new pilot hole in said plate, located correctly off the dowel pins, for the Tremec. Optionally, on big-blocks and Hemis, Keisler can supply an all-new cast aluminum housing that looks very similar to the stock 1970-up factory offering but is available with the Tremec pilot size and bolt pattern. This second option is indeed good news for those who have combed countless swap meets looking for an uncracked aluminum big-block bell. Over the years, there have been more swap-related, Smith-and-Wesson in your mouth hassles involving Mopar’s use of multiple flywheel sizes and crank bolt patterns than we’ll ever know. 130, 143, or 172 teeth—each require their own clutch housing, and, in the case of the 172 (’66-’69 Hemis only) a truly oddball starter. Keisler’s new housing (fig. 7) is designed to accommodate either of the two common sizes (130 and 143)—it does this by the simple expedient of having two starter mounting locations! If you own a ’66-’69 4-speed Hemi, you want to move to a 143 or 130 tooth flywheel and a Keisler housing. Trust us on this! You might even want to go dualdisc. The choices are endless. The Tremec’s front bearing retainer release bearing sleeve O.D. is slightly larger than stock Mopar, this is easily handled by the use of a custom-bored bearing carrier, which is supplied with all kits. If the bearing itself ever needs replacement, a new stock bearing is easily installed on the modified carrier. 15. Similarly, the “stick” situations is handled professionally. From semi-finished pieces, top, to ready-to-ship beauties, all fabrication is done in house, save chrome plating. Keisler is licensed to put the Hurst name on as required. In some cases, you can re-use your stock stick. The TKO’s input shaft is a little over an inch shorter than the 833s. Shafi used this seemingly—negative factor to his advantage: it doesn’t come anywhere close to the stock pilot bushing. Shafi has designed a new needle-bearing pilot arrangement, very similar to what’s used on late-model Magnum V8s—it simply presses (hammers) into the crankshaft’s torque converter pilot I.D. area. So even if your bushing has spun in the crank, wiping it out, or the crank isn’t reamed, or even drilled, for a bushing (as are most cast cranks from A.T. cars), there’s no problem or hassles—the new goodies just drop in. The TKO’s inputs splines are 1-1/8˝, 26 spline teeth, the same as what on a latemodel 350 Camaro. This is obviously way beefier than the common 1˝, 23-spline A-833 stuff, and, owing to the fine-spline status, which allows a larger root diameter, it’s also certainly as strong as the Hemi 833’s 1-3/16˝ 18-spline arrangement. This now-common spline size also allows for your choice amongst a bazillion clutches—Chevy and Mopar flywheel bolt patterns are identical. And, you really don’t even need a new pressure plate unless yours is toast—just a new Camaro-splined disc. The rest of the front of the trans area is unchanged, so the clutch linkage, fork, boot, pivot, linkage, etc., all bolt up like dead stock—because they are. SHIFTER This is one area where Keisler’s CAD/Cam magic really shines. In almost all variations of the kit, the shifter comes through the stock floor pan opening, stock console opening, and uses the stock boot (both boots on a console application.) In some cases the stock Hurst shift lever (handle) can be retained! Pistol grip? No MOPAR ACTION 6 16. Even pistol grips are covered— literally, with a way-cool 5-speed-pattern crystal problem! Shafi even supplies stockappearing balls and pistol-grip crystals emblazoned with the 5-speed pattern To get the shifters in the stock location required quite a bit of engineering. Depending on the application, the case is machined and new brackets are designed, and/or a revised, newly-designed lever is supplied—even in this case, it’s still deadstock appearing. While we write about this in a few sentences, this development work actually consumed thousands of development hours and testing with several engineers and machinists, a bazillion calculations, and plenty of testing and trialfitting to get right. The Tremec’s basic design, with no less than three optional shifter locations designed-in, also contributed to this magic. In one application, the A-body (which, as you might expect, is the toughest because of it’s small, tight-fitting floor pan/ trans tunnel), the shifter peeks through the floor slightly to the right of the stock location. An add-on tunnel-kit piece of sheet steel is supplied, and a new, stock-appearing lever puts the ball in the stock location. With an A-body console car, the lever is actually way less contorted than stock, and comes through the console as stock. Since the Tremec’s native shifter location is dead center, it doesn’t care if the car is LHD or RHD. Aussie and Brit readers, are you paying attention here? FLOOR PAN/CROSSMEMBER All Keisler kits, whether for a ’62 B-body or ’74 E-body, or anything in between, are supplied with a brand-new, heavy steel, cad-plated, bolt-in rear crossmember. No hacking is required—using a stock (or urethane aftermarket) late-model Mustang 7 MOPAR ACTION 17. Do you get the shaft at Keisler? Uh, yes! A new super-quality, thickwall, D.O.M. tubing driveshaft is included so everything bolts in. It’s dynamically balanced, too. 18. Here’s the B-body kit—ready to bolt in. And we do mean bolt in! This swap is no harder than changing your clutch! 19. Same deal for the E-body kit. Start twistin’ the wrenches, Vern. And you can go home—this swap is reversible, no hacking or cutting required. rear mount, it just slips in place. All hardware is supplied. (Slight trimming is required to the floor pan shifter opening on pre-’70 B-bodies. All parts, and a template, are supplied.) On a similar note, excepting the aforementioned cases, zero floor pan mods are required—zero! This is another result of Keisler’s CNC trans case modifications— due to the aforementioned fact that a stock TKO has no less than three optional shifter locations, some parts of the case can be milled away, as required, to gain X-member clearance where needed. This is part of the attention-to-detail theme permeating Shafi’s entire operation. In fact, this major redesign The Tremec is also a rather svelte unit, being housed, as it, in a die-cast, computer-aided-designed case: Weight (with shifter but no stick) Transmission All-aluminum A-body A-833 (never built!) 83 lbs. Overdrive aluminum A-833 (iron side cover) 87 lbs. Tremec 3550 94 lbs. Tremec TKO 100 lbs. All-iron A-body A-833 115 lbs. All-iron B/E body 18-spline A-833 121 lbs. DETAILS, DETAILS 20. All kits are complete. A and B are late and early speedo cables. C is the clutch lineup tool, and D is the speedo cable retainer. E is the backup light pigtail, F is the supertrick pilot roller bearing, and G is the custom release bearing. The rest is nuts and bolts. Just add labor and go! Shafi has covered all the bases. A custom speedo cable is included which allows a stock Ford speedo pinion, available with tooth counts to allow correct speedo reading up to 4.10 gears, to bolt in any Mopar, whether equipped with the pre-1968 threaded speedo-end nipple, or the ’68-up push-on design. For a wider choice of gearing, the internal gear can also be swapped, allowing dead-nuts speedo accuracy from 2.XX to 5.XX axle ratios and virtually any tire size! A simple 2-wire pigtail (supplied) allows the Tremec backup light switch to operate your stock lights. The Tremec also has a neutral safety switch. While this is easily blocked off, it could also be wired to the starter relay on cars that are being converted from automatic trans (Shafi keeps a supply of used pedal assemblies and linkage in stock for just such cases), it could also be wired in place of the stock clutch switch on ’70-up cars, saving wear and tear on the crank’s thrust bearing during startup. CONCLUSION 21. And here’s our guinea pig—the Kesiler/Tremec A-body setup, ready to bolt in— which is exactly what we’re gonna do. Stay tuned, you’d better re-up your subscription, fast. of the Tremec is really what makes the entire swap feasible without major (or any, excepting the A-body) butchery to the vehicle itself. Don’t come away with the impression that you can buy any ol’ TKO, and 10 minutes with a hacksaw, will get you goin’. It wont! It’s major-league engineering that makes the installation possible. DRIVESHAFT This is handled simply by Keisler supplying an all-new, super-beefy, dynamically balanced D.O.M.—tubing driveshaft, utilizing the strong Spicer 1330 U-joint up front, mated to the Tremec slip yoke. Out back, it’s supplied with a 7260, 7290, or 1330 U-joint—whatever your rear axle’s yoke requires. While this has no bearing on the actual swap, it’s worth noting that the stock Tremec rear seal has the very desirable weather boot built in, just like the stock Mopar designs. Truly all-weather streetable. While certainly not a lowbuck conversion, the buy-in is surprisingly reasonable. For reasons of utility, efficiency, and, manly, pure joy, this swap has clearly joined the ranks of the three listed in our opening paragraph. Praise doesn’t come much higher than that—it’s one of only 4 superstars in 12 years! Stay tuned to this channel for the greasy installation gore. ★ SOURCE: Keisler Automotive Engineering, 2216B West Governor John Sevier Hwy., Knoxville, TN 37920; Voice (865) 6098187; FAX (865) 609-8287; www.keislerauto.com; E-mail: [email protected] MOPAR ACTION 8 EXCELLENT SWAPS DEPT Add another gear in an afternoon! Story and Photos by Richard Ehrenberg, SAE kay, we all agree, the Keisler/Tremec TKO looks great on paper. But exactly how much of a hassle is it to install? The answer: not much, although the level of bitchiness varies a bit depending on the model of car you’re wrenching on. For ’71up B-bodies, and all E-bodies, you’re looking at a total bolt-in, not so much as 0.001 inch of sheet metal need be disturbed. On pre-’71 Bs, the total extent of the mod consists of moving the oval cutout in the floor pan ’tunnel adapter’ over a bit, and bolting down a Keisler-supplied block-off plate. If your ’70-down B-body doesn’t have a console, you’ll need new carpeting to cover the trim job. On A-bodies (all 1967-’76 cars are included) the floor pan needs a bit more brain salad surgery. Nothing that you can’t O 9 MOPAR ACTION hen we last left this space, we had analyzed Keisler Automotive’s kits, which allow their modified Tremec TKO 5speed transmissions to be installed in AB- and E-body Mopars. We determined that they are beefy units, and that Keisler apparently has done a good job engineer- W ing the installation—or has he? For this, the final installment, we actually install one to find out. Not being ones to shrink from a challenge, we chose the most difficult swap—an A-body. We also report here on what it’s like to drive, how it shifts, how the ratios work out, etc. easily do with a nibbler, saber saw, etc., but surgery nonetheless. A template is provided by Keisler that shows exactly where to trim. You then install (tack weld) a new preformed sheet steel tunnel adapter, which has a pre-cut opening that accepts your stock shifter boot and trim ring. There are two versions of this adapter, one for cars that were originally equipped with a four speed tranny, and one for cars that are being swapped from automatic. This means that, when swapping from a T-Flite to the shift-it-yourself 5-speed, there’s no need to procure an original (or clone) ‘tunnel kit’. Our project car was originally 3-speed stick (on the column), and had been swapped eons ago to an A-833 4-speed, so the tunnel bulge was already in place. Since our installation was performed (in very early January 2002) we’ve convinced Keisler to make a small redesign to his kit, adding a flange around the edge which would allow it to be pop-riveted in place, expanding sales to those who don’t own MIGs. But, in reality, there’s such little welding required that you can simply offer your MIG-equipped buddy a few six-packs (the liquid kind) and he’ll be done in ten minutes. The Keisler crew is also hard at work designing the needed components (pedal, linkage, etc.) to be able to supply everything necessary for an automatic to 5-speed swap. Think of it: one stop shopping, no swap meet, junk yard, or eBay searches necessary! The accompanying photos detail the step by step installation, which turned out to mostly live up to its advance billing— straightforward and extremely well thought out. You can perform this entire installation in very little more time than a normal clutch R&R, especially on a B- or E- body. As we detailed in the first installment, not only has Keisler covered the major items, such as assuring that the shift knob winds up in the stock location, the crossmember bolts in, etc., but even the small details are looked after, such as supplying a speedometer cable and the correct pinion gear. The Tremec uses a slightly different speedo gear arrangement than Mopar’s ubiquitous A-833/904 /727 etc. Instead of having an adapter that can be rotated to accommodate a huge range of gears, the adapter is small, and fixed in it’s location— very, very similar, in fact, to the stock ’65down Mopar design. This normally precludes having a wide range of gears, but what the Tremec engineers have done is to also make the drive gear (on the output shaft) interchangeable—so, no matter how insane your choice of gears or tires, Keisler’s got’cha covered. THE PROOF OF THE PUDDING IS IN.... But what’s it like to drive? In a word, nice. In three words, a total pleasure. Due to Keisler’s cloning of the stock Hurst lever and big white knob (pistol grips and “wood” balls also available), you’re 1. Here’s our Keisler/Tremec TKO-II 5-speed, ready to bolt in. The Keisler kit includes everything you need: a new crossmember, driveshaft, speedo cable, shifter handle, etc. 2. First step is—duh!—removing the old tranny and bellhousing. If you need us to tell you how to do that, you should be reading Car Craft. 3. On A-bodies—only!—the floor pan needs a small lobotomy. A full-size template, supplied with the kit, shows exactly where to slice and dice. You can use a saber saw, nibbler, plasma cutter, small nuclear device...whatever works for you. 4. Also only on the A-body, you need to trim the front lip of the T-bar crossmember. Clearance to the tranny’s shift tower is still very snug; can be improved with a few flatwashers between the engine mount ears on the block and the mount brackets. MOPAR ACTION 10 5. A worm’s-eye view of the hacked A-body floor pan. Don’t worry, this all gets very neatly covered 10. We went with a beefy McLeod clutch disc (left), sized to fit our existing 10.5˝ pressure plate. Note 2 more hub springs than our old MP one (right), one extra drive lug, etc. It’s obviously up to the task, and then some. The clutch and pressure plate are installed as usual. Keisler supplies a clutch alignment tool. 6. The Keisler-modified bellhousing bolts in like stock. On big-block, you have the option of an all-new casting from Keisler. 8. With the new bellhousing bolted in, you should check the runout between the crank and the housing’s pilot hole using a dial indicator (circled.) Corrections are via the usual offset dowels. This procedure is covered in detail in virtually any Mopar FSM. 7. Your flywheel need not change. The Keisler pilot bearing installs in the torque converter recess. Makes no difference if you have an old pilot bushing, or an unreamed or undrilled crank. The Keisler kit fits with any or all variations. preconditioned to expect it to feel like an A833. And, to a certain extent, it does. Very metallic and solid, just like a brand-new ’60s Mopar. But, in actuality, the shift throws are shorter. Usually, this translates into increased effort, but that’s not true here. Effort is certainly no greater than any ’833 we’ve ever driven, although not as low as 11 MOPAR ACTION 11. Fill the trans with fluid. GM Synchomesh fluid is recommended, GM P/N 12345349. 12. Now heft the Tremec up into place. You’ll appreciate the lightweight aluminum alloy case right about now. 9. A standard Mopar release bearing, on a slightly modified sleeve, is used. Install it on the clutch fork as usual. modern FWD Mopars (with the dual-cone paper synchros) but a lot more precise and slop-free. The shift pattern comes in for some criticism. It’s a 3-plane gate setup, just like a Hurst. And reverse is unprotected, just like a 15. The Keisler driveshaft, a beefy DOMtubing, Spicer-U-joint piece, drops right in like stock. 16. All finished down below. Fits like the proverbial glove, too. No problems with exhausts, clutch linkage, etc., which can remain dead stock. 13. The Keisler crossmember allows everything to bolt in as stock. You can use either a stock Ford rubber mount, or a beefy polyurethane one from ProThane (shown) or Energy Suspension. Hurst-equipped ’833. But, unlike a Hurst setup, the spring loading for reverse is only marginally stronger than the spring for the 12 side. (The normal resting place for the Tremec stick is the 3-4 plane). Reverse is further over to the right than 5th, so shifting inadvertently to reverse isn’t much of a problem. But making a 5-4 downshift requires a conscious effort, at least at first, to not get hung up in the crossover. After a few hours of acclimation, though, it becomes second nature. Still, the shift pattern on ’90-up Mopar passenger cars is a better design, in our view (see figure 22). Power shifting is easy, even the some- 17. Back upstairs, it looks pretty raw right now. Again, none of this hacking is required on B or E-bodies, and it’s not really as bad as it looks, ’cause... 14. Keisler supplies speedo cable and pinions for all permutations.. times-troublesome ‘cross gate’ 2-3 shift. Due to the Tremec’s more direct shifting mechanism, there’s zero ambiguity. Gone, however, is that famous Hurst snick noise on the 2-3, but that’s progress. Transmission noise, overall, is about on a par with a good, fresh A-833. Since the shift MOPAR ACTION 12 18. ...a neatly finished tunnel kit is included. It fits right in like it was made to go there, mainly ’cuz it was! 22. The actual Tremec shift pattern is a little different that the Mopar passcar 5-speed setup. But it works just fine after a few minutes acclimation. 19. Our early kit required welding to install. Current versions have a flanged lip that will allow the option of pop riveting or SEMS-screwing if you so desire. 23. Topside finishing requires new carpeting on A, and pre-’71 B-bodies. We began be installing some extra heat insulation (“Reflectix”) from Home Depot. 24. A standard 4-speed carpet set fits fine. We got this great resto (loop-pile) set from Legendary Auto Interiors. Like everything from those guys, it’s topnotch. We always begin the carpet installation at the deepest molded are— the rear footwell outer corners. This correctly “locates” the rear carpet. Work it right up into the corner. 20. The Keisler stick bolts right on like stock, and places the knob (or pistol grip) in exactly the stock location. Stock boot(s) is/are used, too. 21. Keisler even supplies a 5-speed pattern for the pistol grip setups. 13 MOPAR ACTION 25. The next trick is to use a few bolts and large flatwashers to hold the carpet in place for trimming—these go through the seat holes in the floor pan. Then drop in the front set. The “locating dowel” for it is the heel pad, which should be under the pedals and virtually flush against the side of the tunnel. 27. All done. Looks very much like stock, but works a whole bunch better. 26. The excellent Legendary set is designed to fit both 111 and 108˝ Abodies, so it’s pretty large at the overlap point and some slicing is required. Remember, is easy to make a second cut, but hard to undo one that went too far! lever is directly, metallically, connected to the gearbox, some gear noise is transmitted into the cabin. But, due to the Tremec’s Timken-bearing design, there’s noticeably less lash or slop when crawling along with slow-moving traffic, and this reduction is very noticeable and welcome. There’s been quite a bit of discussion about the Tremec’s ratios. Make no mistake: this is an excellent street-performance transmission with a ratio spread wide enough to launch a heavy car with tall gears, and bring the cruise RPM level at extra-legal velocities down to smileproducing levels. We discussed the exact ratios last time, so we won’t belabor the point. But ponder these truths: to get the same (actually, a tad better) 1st-gear launch velocity as a 2.66:1 first gear A-833 with, say, 4.30 gears, you’d only need 3.55s with the TKO. And, even with the TKO-IIs nonetoo-tall overdrive, that 3.55 cog would effectively become 2.94s. Can you say: “gas mileage?” Or: “reduced engine wear”? Without getting into another mathematical analysis (you can do that to your heart’s content on the Keisler website), let’s just say that 3.55:1 gears seem to be the right choice for a majority of applications, with 3.23 and 3.90 being the options. In our case, we went outside the box with 2.94s, primarily due to our extremely small diameter tire size and quest for tripledouble-nickel terminal velocities. 28. Here’s Keisler’s survivor Charger R/T, woodgrain shift knob and all. Now, if you have an all-out drag car, with a very narrow powerband, .750˝ lift cam, tunnel ram, etc., this simply isn’t the transmission for you. You don’t even want a manual—you want an automatic with a very loose torque converter to keep the revs up at all times, and the deepest possible axle ratio. But for a dual-purpose street machine, one that’s driven to the drags a half-dozen times a year, cruised every weekend, and maybe even daily-driven, the Keisler setup is sweet as sugar. And it’s beefy enough for those occasional 10-sec strip runs—if you’ve got the HP, the Tremec has the torque capacity. And let’s not forget what actually caused the Mopar Action team to gravitate towards the Tremec in the first place: the virtually unobtainable nature of A-833 hard parts. New gears and shafts are virtually impossible to find at a price that’s affordable. After having gone through several supposedly “mint” gearsets, we threw in the towel, and we’ll never look back. And after having driven with this trans for a few months, we now only use the rearview to see Chebby grilles getting smaller and smaller... ★ SOURCE: Keisler Automotive Engineering, 2216B West Governor John Sevier Hwy., Knoxville, TN 37920; Voice: (865) 609-8187; FAX: (865) 609-8287; Web: www.keislerauto.com; E-mail: [email protected] MOPAR ACTION 14